Tuesday, February 9, 2016

The video “Battle of the Bag” has introduced me to many interesting
and problematic effects plastic bags have on our environment that I never acknowledged
before. According to the video, a family of four, on average, will collect a
thousand plastic bags a year and Canada, in that same time, is recorded to have
collected six billion bags. In addition, plastic bags take between 400 to 1,000
years to deteriorate and it has been the cause of death for many land and sea
animals.

Aside from the interesting harmful effects plastics bags
have on our ecosystem, the way they are made I found quite interesting. In
addition, I never knew that our first bag “form” was actually a bull’s scrotum.

Finally, I found the efforts to manage and/or solve this problem
quite interesting and honorable. I never realized how much of a problem plastic
bags have been and are for our world and how countries, cities, and individuals
are stepping up to make a change. For example, China, India, and other parts of
the world have completely or marginally banned the use of plastic bags and some
have gone as far as to ticket individuals caught using them.

In recent years, San Francisco is the first U.S. city to ban
companies from using and distributing plastic bags. Areas in the world that are
banning the use of plastic bags for the greater good are effectively solving
the plastic bag epidemic. However, I thought that the plastic bag manufacturing
company introduced another effective way to still use plastic bags and solve
the issues large amounts of plastic bags can have on our world; reuse and
recycle.

Unfortunately, this method has only been able to effectively
recycle 1-3% of total bags used, whereas the “banning” method has reduced plastic
bag use entirely. For this reason, I feel that “banning” plastic bags may be
the most prominent manner in which to solve this issue. Furthermore, because
this issue is a worldwide problem, we should consider adopting the “banning”
method globally. By doing this, we will see the end of the plastic bag and its
harmful effects towards the environment, atmosphere, and wildlife.

Though the plastic bag manufacturer may disagree with my
suggestion and suggests that the bags are simply “misunderstood” and thus not a
problem to be solved. We have seen, recorded, and grasped the effects these
bags have had on our environment and way of life. These bags may be convenient
and may have the capability to be recycled and reused, but without 100%
worldwide individual dedication and participation in this method, it proves to
be extremely ineffective. If we won’t think of the environment and make changes
as a whole, then the government must implement restricting and/or banning that
product. The plastic bag isn’t a problem because it’s misunderstood; that
statement is irrelevant. We understand the pros and cons of the plastic bag; it’s
problematic because it’s almost indestructible and overly misused.